MACROCYTE -
Noun: An abnormally large red blood cell found in the blood, especially in some forms of anaemia.
- Greek - macrós = large, great +
- -cyte = a cell from Greek - kytos = anything hollow.
MACROPHAGE -
Noun: A large cell which has the power to ingest cell debris, foreign material such as carbon in the lungs and bacteria. It is present in connective tissue, especially when there is inflammation. Macrophages work with T-lymphocyte cells and B-Lymphocyte cells to destroy harmful substances that enter the body.
- Greek - macrós = large, great +
- Greek - phageîn = eat
MARROW -
Noun: The soft substance that fills the hollow central part of most bones. In adults, the blood producing red marrow is made by the spine, breast bone, ribs, collarbones, shoulder blades, hip bones and skull bones. Red bone marrow is the factory for all of the red blood cells and platelets and most of the white cells . Stem cells within the red marrow are stimulated to form blood cells by erythropoietin , a hormone originating in the kidney. The blood cells go through various stages of maturation in the red marrow before they are ready to be released into the circulation.
Sometimes the stem cells in the marrow fail to produce sufficient numbers of normal blood cells, as occurs in aplastic anaemia or overproduce defective white blood cells, as in leukaemia or produce immature red and white blood cells as in myelodysplasia .
Old English word - mearg = marrow
MARROW HYPOPLASIA -
Noun: A condition where the bone marrow is not forming properly. It is underdeveloped. Patients with AA and MDS have marrow hypoplasia as the stem cells have died or been killed off resulting in reduced blood cell formation. See Hypoplasia .
Greek - hypó = under + plásis = formation
MAST CELL -
Noun: A large cell in connective tissue that is vital in the immune system . Large numbers of mast cells line the nose. Mast cells contain a variety of chemicals, including histamine, that are particularly effective in destroying parasites. Antibodies latch onto these large Mast cells and when a micro-organism which is a matching antigen to the antibody is encountered, this triggers the mast cell to spill out its chemicals and disable the invader. In a cold or flu for example, the histamine also boosts blood flow to the nose and causes inflammation and congestion. In turn this stimulates membranes to produce lots of mucous to wash away the dead micro-organisms and cells they have killed. So the inflammation and mucous is all a natural defense mechanism in our immune response.
German - masten = fatten
MDS -
Noun: An abbreviation for Myelodysplastic Syndromes .
MEF -
The Marrow Environment Fund. A registered charity to help raise money for bone marrow diseases. It is now called the Aplastic Anaemia Trust.
MEGAKARYOCYTE -
Noun: A large cell in the bone marrow responsible for the formation of platelets.
This is a picture of a Megakaryocyte in bone marrow with some red blood cells.
- Greek - mégas = great +
- Greek - karyo = nut or kernal +
- -cyte = a cell from Greek - kytos = anything hollow
MEGAKARYOPOIESIS -
Noun: The production of platelets by the megakaryocytes.
- Greek - mégas = great +
- Greek - karyo = nut or kernal +
- Greek - poieîn = make
MENORRHAGIA -
Noun: A condition where there is an excessive menstrual discharge.
AA and MDS patients may suffer from this due to the low level of platelets and also during the treatment period. It may require oral contraceptive pills to control the bleeding or high doses of oestrogen to suppress the period completely. If the platelet count does not return, in extreme circumstances, an hysterectomy may have to be performed. It is more common in AA patients.
- Latin - menses = month +
- Greek - rhegnynai = burst forth or flood
METHOTREXATE -
Noun: An anticancer drug used in treating certain forms of leukaemia . As with most anticancer drugs, methotrexate affects both healthy and cancerous cells, so that its usefulness is limited by its adverse effects and toxicity. It has been reported to reduce the IQ of children. It may also reduce fertility by depressing sperm and egg development. It has been used to reduce the symptoms of acute GVHD . It commonly causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, dry cough/chest pain and mouth ulcers. If you notice any of these symptoms or jaundice , mood changes, confusion, sore throat, fever or a rash, contact your doctor. It may also cause anaemia, increased susceptibility to infection and abnormal bleeding due to killing off blood cells.
METHYLPREDNISOLONE -
Noun: A corticosteroid drug used in the treatment of severe asthma, skin inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease and types of arthritis. Sometimes uses in immunosuppressive therapy . See Prednisolone for typical corticosteroid drug adverse effects.
MICTURITION -
Noun: The act of passing urine.
Latin - micturire = the desire to make water
MITOSIS -
Noun: The way in which most cells divide, so that the inherited genetic material (in the chromosomes ) within the nucleus of the original cell is exactly duplicated into two daughter cells. Each persons body begins as a single cell (a fertilised egg) and, following successive cellular divisions, becomes a multicellular being with trillions of cells. Cellular division through mitosis occurs in the body thousands of times every second as dead cells are replaced by new ones.
- Greek - mitos = thread (referring to the threads which pull the chromosomes apart) +
- Greek - osis = the act or process of
MONOCYTE -
Noun: Monocytes are the largest of the white blood cell s and make up about 3 to 8 per cent of the total white cell volume. When monocytes leave the bloodstream and enter tissues or organs, they can evolve into larger cells called macrophages that have an increased capacity to destroy foreign organisms invading the body. See Macrophage
- Greek - mónos = single or one +
- -cyte = a cell from Greek - kytos = anything hollow
MRI -
Noun: Abbreviation for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Cross sectional images of any area of the body can be obtained for examination without any hazard to the patient using magnetic fields and radio waves.
MUD -
Noun: Abbreviation for Matched Unrelated Donor.
MYELOBLAST -
Noun: A granulocyte cell in its early stages in the bone marrow . An early form of the myelocyte . See diagram at Haematopoiesis .
Adjective: myeloblastic, myeloblative. Below is a picture of a myeloblast taken from the bone marrow.
- Greek - myelós = marrow +
- Greek - blastós = sprout
MYELOBLASTIC LEUKAEMIA -
Noun: Myeloblastic leukaemia is a form of leukaemia that is marked by an abnormal increase in the number of myeloblast s especially in bone marrow and blood -- abbreviation AML; called also acute myelogenous leukaemia , acute myelocytic leukaemia or acute myeloid leukaemia.
MYELOCYTE -
Noun: A cell of the bone marrow , which comes from a myeloblast . Myelocytes give rise to neutrophils, eosinophils or basophils.
Adjective: Myelocytic
- Greek - myelós = marrow +
- -cyte = a cell from Greek - kytos = anything hollow.
MYELODYSPLASIA -
Noun: Myelodysplasia is a diagnosis that includes several subcategories with very different findings and different prognoses . The common element in all of the myelodysplasias is anaemia, usually refractory , meaning that treatments other than blood transfusions are often not helpful. Bone marrow transplants may lead to long-term disease-free survival, but the majority of patients with MDS are over the age of 50 and too old to be eligible for a BMT .
Blood cells must be mature to carry out their specific work properly. In the myelodysplastic syndromes, the blood cells lose their ability to mature. Under a microscope, the red and white cells show that they have not matured normally. There may also be an increase in the number of these immature blood cells (called blasts). As the disease progresses, the blasts take over the bone marrow and prevent it from making enough of the normal red blood cells , white blood cells and platelets that the body needs. The mature blood cells that are present may not work properly. Myelodysplastic syndromes are divided into several types based on how the bone marrow cells and blood cells look under a microscope. There are five types of myelodysplastic syndromes. Each type is defined according to the type and percentage of immature blood cells (blasts) found in the blood stream and bone marrow.
The five types are:
(less than 5 percent blasts in bone marrow)
Refractory anaemia with ringed sideroblasts (RARS)
(less than 15 percent blasts in the bone marrow)
The picture below is from a patient with RARS. The larger cells are immature red blood cells with a nucleus.
On the right is an iron stain in the same patient showing rings of iron around the nucleus of the immature red cells.
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